Judgement Day

Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, than you are criticizing God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.  God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? -James  4:11-12

Every single day is a challenge. I challenge myself to be a good wife, a good mother, but most of all a faithful woman of God. Today…that was challenged. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I have come a long way in the last 4 years. I have gained and lost. I have suffered and flourished. I have soared and been set back. But at the end of the day I am proud of who I am and what I have become…and I know that God is too.

Months ago I went to a friend of mine who is a very talented photographer to do a boudoir shoot as a gift for my husband. I had done a lot of research on different photographer’s websites to find exactly what I was looking for. Sexy, playful, but above all else, tasteful. The shoot was a blast and I was thrilled with the outcome. My husband loved the gift and I would recommend any wife to consider doing this for their husbands. Today my friend asked me if it would be alright for her to put some of my pictures on her website to help grow her business. Her being as talented as she is, and such a wonderful friend, I had no problem giving her the rights to my pictures. I did however instruct her to be selective on which pictures she chose because some were very clearly only meant for my husband’s eyes.  

Being from the conservative, small town that I am, I knew that there would be people who would not approve of these pictures. I was prepared for that. What I was not prepared for was for my character to come into question. I recently posted a picture of the book I am currently reading entitled “Soul Detox” and the exact words from this person were, “It’s shocking for someone who is trying to detox their soul.”  I had no words. I couldn’t understand how me having pictures made for my HUSBAND turned into my faith being questioned. She then went on to say how I post a blog about being Christian but then post inappropriate pictures for the world to see and that I am not setting an example for young girls.  OK…I’m just going to go ahead and say I am sorry to anybody who was offended by the pictures. But what it comes down to is that these pictures were not put on a personal  site but a photography site. A site that woman will go to while doing research similar to the research I did and say, “Wow, those are exactly what I am wanting to do for my husband!” I also would never encourage young woman to take pictures like this. This was a gift from a wife to her husband. My friend has already gotten many inquires about boudoir shoots since she put up the shoot we did together. I am so happy that I will have some small part in helping her business grow. 

I, not for one second, will pretend that I am perfect in my walk with the Lord. Nobody is. But I have consciously made choices to better my relationship with the Lord and live a Godly life. For someone to bring that into question is hard for me to swallow.  I do not feel like I am being a hypocrite by openly talking about my faith and sharing the Word by allowing these pictures to be posted.  I stand by my decision of helping a friend. I am ok with it, my husband is ok with it, and I know my Lord is ok with it.

 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 3:12

The person that this involved and I have talked and have no bad blood.  Everything I have said on here I have also said to them…so I am not speaking ill of anyone behind their back.

 I will leave you with this. If you don’t know someone, do not judge them. Trust me, it is something that I work on every day because old habits die hard; I am by no means perfect. You don’t know why they make the choices they do and frankly, it’s none of your business.  You are entitled to your own opinions, but keep them to yourself. Slander is very hurtful.

I hate that my first post in over a month is something as negative as this, but like I have explained many times, this blog is my outlet. My next post will be much more upbeat…and I promise is won’t be another month before it is posted.

Until next time…